PS Does anyone know when that little grandstand was removed? I assume it was intended for viewing the long right hander on the short circuit but I don't recall ever noticing it (1969 onwards).

Well John, I remember it being there in the sixties, but I do not recall how long it stayed in place for the seventies. The old scaffolding stands went up and down more often than a tarts knickers during the 60's and 70's ( ) due to planning laws so it could have been a temporary one even then!

Ah! The long defunct Model Cars magazine, I used to write quite a lot for that publication in my younger days, as did one David Windsor, to whom some of the Anglia pics are credited. David is the brother of Peter Windsor, who has been involved with all kinds of things in racing, fairly recently with that hopeless US GP enterprise. As a regular contributor, I used to receive free copies of Model Cars, and had a complete collection right from issue #1, Model Maker incorporating Model Cars before that, but shortly after I'd left home to seek my fortune in the great wide world, my dear mum decided that I had to cast aside childish things, and consigned them all to the local tip, though I have to confess that I only noticed their absence several years later when on a weekend visit.

Didn't a certain Doug Nye edit one of these at one time? Before moving onto better things

Well John, I remember it being there in the sixties, but I do not recall how long it stayed in place for the seventies. The old scaffolding stands went up and down more often than a tarts knickers during the 60's and 70's ( ) due to planning laws so it could have been a temporary one even then!

Glyn

Glyn, are you implying that tart's knickers whent up and down at a slower rate before the '60s and after the '70s? How did planning laws influence this phenomenon?

Didn't a certain Doug Nye edit one of these at one time? Before moving onto better things

No, Model Cars was published by MAP, later Argus, who were also responsible for Aeromodeller and many other modelling and craft magazines. Model Cars was edited throughout its life by Alec Gee, who had looked after much of the car content of Model Maker as editor Vic Smeed's assistant, so was the obvious choice when the car side was separated. Vic, still with us at 90 something was one of the greatest modellers of all time, apart from writing books and editing magazines, he was responsible for probably something around a thousand model designs of all kinds, boats, cars, planes, and lots of others as well, most of them still available in plan form today, and flown and sailed etc worldwide, he also hosted several BBC model making programmes. As I said, Vic Smeed was/is a truly great character, and as a young man, he flew Spitfires in WW2. Much of the Model Cars content was about slot car racing, it was the Autosport of its time to most slot racers, but there was another model car magazine at the time called (I think) Miniature Auto, and since this featured mostly statics and diecasts with a little full-size stuff, it's possible that Doug Nye may have had some involvement with that, though probably only as an occasional contributor. After enjoying something of a boom, slot cars started to fade somewhat in the early 70s, and Model Cars was incorporated in another MAP magazine Scale Models, which was edited jointly by Alec Gee and Ron Moulton, another man who made a huge contribution to the modelling world, and who died only last month aged 87. We last met only a couple of months earlier at the funeral of yet another great modeller Phil Smith who reached 93, and was considered a significant enough figure to be granted a half page obituary in the Daily Telegraph. Having an interest in model making seems to help with longevity, and as a lifetime modeller myself, though mostly relatively pedestrian things like steam powered model boats these days, I'm hoping that some of this phenomenon is going to rub off on me.

Model Cars magazine , I agree very slot car based , I preferred Miniature Autowiorld , formerly Model Road and Racing , DCN contributed to it , pheraps he would give us a behind the scenes look at it .

Model Cars magazine , I agree very slot car based , I preferred Miniature Autowiorld , formerly Model Road and Racing , DCN contributed to it , pheraps he would give us a behind the scenes look at it .

Glyn, are you implying that tart's knickers whent up and down at a slower rate before the '60s and after the '70s? How did planning laws influence this phenomenon?

I guess plannning laws prevented permanent structures.Im not sure which stand we are talking about here but all Brands stands apart from the one opposite pits/startline were of temporary nature..Extra stands were erected for Britsh GP and other major events like Race of Champions.Startlne stand was about the only decent one at a British circuit with bar at the back and toilets underneath.Never seeen any explanation of why it was demolished.

Model Cars magazine , I agree very slot car based , I preferred Miniature Autowiorld , formerly Model Road and Racing , DCN contributed to it , pheraps he would give us a behind the scenes look at it .

I submitted one or two articles to Model Cars. (I was only about 15 at the time). If published, I got a slot car related goodie as a reward

Yes, on Southend seafront. A very good pair of tracks, a successful slot car equipment and spares business and a very active centre for a good few years. There was also the Racing and Drag Centre in Westcliff, which is part of Southend, which was the first commercial slot car track in the UK so I was spoilt for choice for my slot racing at these venues from 1966 to 1971.

I guess plannning laws prevented permanent structures.Im not sure which stand we are talking about here but all Brands stands apart from the one opposite pits/startline were of temporary nature..Extra stands were erected for Britsh GP and other major events like Race of Champions.Startlne stand was about the only decent one at a British circuit with bar at the back and toilets underneath.Never seeen any explanation of why it was demolished.

Temporary stands were erected (calm down Mr Matthews ) for a set number of days per year and John Webb was very clever over his use of the temporary planning consents required for them during his reign at Brands Hatch. Many of them were put up for the Grand Prix and Race of Champions with other races such as the 1000km or a big bike meeting programmed to taking place within a couple of weeks of these events which then guarunteed further use (and ticket money income) before they were dismantled "until the next time". I am sure that is how the one at Clearways was operated, just like the others that ran almost the full length of the top straight but like John I have no idea when this stand was finally used.

How many of you knew that the much missed permanent grandstand on the start/finish line was demolished because either the planning permission had expired or it simply didn't have permission to be erected in the first place! I do not remember the exact reason of the two, but that and the Grovewood Suite had to go.

Glyn.

PS - Tony, as you well know, I have no intention of messing around with your scaffolding.

Darryl Reach and I produced 'Airfix Magazine' while working for Knightsbridge Publications in a paddock-edge Portacabin at Brands Hatch 1963-64-65, and also while working on the sister monthly 'Motor Racing' - oh and 'Sports Car' which was a four-letter word. We then launched 'Miniature Auto' and became the first - and I suspect only - publication to pay fees to the American lawyer Reeve Whitson's new-fangled Design Registration outfit to gain 'exclusive' access to Formula 1 team manufacturing drawings, and so reproduce accurate three-view scale drawings for model makers. I have to say I really enjoyed writing the background texts for those drawing features. I don't think 'Miniature Auto' survived the subsequent takeover of Knightsbridge Publications by an outfit named, I think, Product Journals. By that time I was primarily involved with 'Motor Racing' magazine, with Cyril Posthumus as Editor. I thought the world of Cyril and when the takeover went through and Cyril was made redundant (I suspect for being regarded as 'too expensive' or 'inconvenient') I was not about to accept the offer that was made to me of staying on as associate editor. In fact I recall my response as being "As far as I'm concerned you can take your ------ job, fold it 'til the edges are sharp, and then stick it right up your ----- ----- ----".

Darryl Reach and I produced 'Airfix Magazine' while working for Knightsbridge Publications in a paddock-edge Portacabin at Brands Hatch 1963-64-65, and also while working on the sister monthly 'Motor Racing' - oh and 'Sports Car' which was a four-letter word. We then launched 'Miniature Auto' and became the first - and I suspect only - publication to pay fees to the American lawyer Reeve Whitson's new-fangled Design Registration outfit to gain 'exclusive' access to Formula 1 team manufacturing drawings, and so reproduce accurate three-view scale drawings for model makers. I have to say I really enjoyed writing the background texts for those drawing features. I don't think 'Miniature Auto' survived the subsequent takeover of Knightsbridge Publications by an outfit named, I think, Product Journals. By that time I was primarily involved with 'Motor Racing' magazine, with Cyril Posthumus as Editor. I thought the world of Cyril and when the takeover went through and Cyril was made redundant (I suspect for being regarded as 'too expensive' or 'inconvenient') I was not about to accept the offer that was made to me of staying on as associate editor. In fact I recall my response as being "As far as I'm concerned you can take your ------ job, fold it 'til the edges are sharp, and then stick it right up your ----- ----- ----".

We then launched 'Miniature Auto' and became the first - and I suspect only - publication to pay fees to the American lawyer Reeve Whitson's new-fangled Design Registration outfit to gain 'exclusive' access to Formula 1 team manufacturing drawings, and so reproduce accurate three-view scale drawings for model makers. I have to say I really enjoyed writing the background texts for those drawing features.

I always thought "Miniature Autoworld" was great, and still have my complete run of the magazine, which I refer to from time to time.

PS Re: Motor Sport. Latest issue arrived today and it includes an extended 5-page "You were there" feature of photgraphs by Gary and Linda Carlson (TNF's very own 'Vashlin'). Also "Lunch with... David Hobbs".

PS Re: Motor Sport. Latest issue arrived today and it includes an extended 5-page "You were there" feature of photgraphs by Gary and Linda Carlson (TNF's very own 'Vashlin'). Also "Lunch with... David Hobbs".

I've just spotted that. It's good to see Vashlins pictures in print and they certainly deserve the special treatment given by the magazine.

I hope that I am wrong, but the couple questions at the end of the poll about electronic transmission of the mag worry me. Is this poll just the start? Is the purpose of the poll really that question? Is this the first step to an eventual transfer to electronic rather than paper distribution? I hope not. Call me old fashioned if you will, but I want my magazines in my hand!
Tom

I hope that I am wrong, but the couple questions at the end of the poll about electronic transmission of the mag worry me. Is this poll just the start? Is the purpose of the poll really that question? Is this the first step to an eventual transfer to electronic rather than paper distribution? I hope not. Call me old fashioned if you will, but I want my magazines in my hand!Tom

It's Barnes & Noble's electronic book reader, about the size of a book, you download books and magazines into it via the Internet. If you want to see one, go to B & N, and you won't have a choice but to see it, the monster display is right inside the door with sales people to assault you. You pay for the downloads, which perferably are done over a cup of capucinno and a pastry in the B & N coffee shop. Great color reproduction and lots of storage capacity.

Thanks, Tom. But I am with Ryan 86. E magazines are fine for those who wish to have them that way, but I want the hard copy in my hand, on the plane, away from home, in the john, and on the shelf for long term reference. Call me a reactionary if you will, and you will be right!
Tom

Thanks, Tom. But I am with Ryan 86. E magazines are fine for those who wish to have them that way, but I want the hard copy in my hand, on the plane, away from home, in the john, and on the shelf for long term reference. Call me a reactionary if you will, and you will be right!

While I - and my many boxes of magazines and racing papers - can empathize and appreciate hard copies, is there any reason you couldn't use the e-magazine on your computer hard drive for reference purposes? (with proper back-up of course, just in case)

And after a recent nightmare of a move involving lugging box after box of books, papers and records - to a much smaller space, I have to admit the space saving prospects of e-books/magazines and digital music is quite tempting.

If someone would underwrite scanning some racing papers onto CD, I would gladly donate the originals to a racing museum. And have some space!

Having recently dumped 35 odd years accumulation of car magazines (nobody wanted them), as a result of two moves involving boxes, boxes and more boxes of magazines, I am beginning to see the advantage of electronic copies. But 'they' need to come up with a better way of displaying and storing than I have so far seen.

Having recently dumped 35 odd years accumulation of car magazines (nobody wanted them), as a result of two moves involving boxes, boxes and more boxes of magazines, I am beginning to see the advantage of electronic copies. But 'they' need to come up with a better way of displaying and storing than I have so far seen.

You had 35 years of car magazines. What was a computer like 35 years ago? Try 25 years, or 15 years. With a modern computer you could not read the files on those machines. Archivists are beginning to realise that if you wish to preserve electronic files, you have to continually migrate them to the latest system, otherwise its bye bye to them. The only long term storage device is hard copy on acid free paper.

In the mid 1990's, at work, I needed information that had been written onto a floppy disc by a Digital (the maker) computer in the late 1980's. It took some while before we found one of them collecting dust in a bookcase in a small northern office. I was lucky and we were able to recover the information - onto paper!

Be thankful that you don't want to find something in a 35 year old compuer file.

Every law of England is inscribed by hand on vellum. At a cost of a third of a million quid per year. When Parliament enquired about perhaps dropping such expense, the company concerned stated that they could guarantee their work for 5,000 years. Given it took a year of brutal hackwork to get the BBC's 1986 Domesday Project laserdisc into a readable condition after a mere decade, Parliament decided to stick with it.

How many of you have actually got hold of a copy of the magazine this month? Nothing has arrived in the post, and we haven't had much snow in my part of the UK, so postal deliveries in these parts seem to be fairly normal. I suspect that my subscription might have come to an end, but no-one from MS has been in contact to tell me about it. Suffering severe withdrawal symptoms, I've spent the last few days trying to find a copy on sale somewhere, but with no luck at all so far, none of the retailers I've been to has even seen the January issue, and that includes my local Waitrose & Sainsbury's. So, where have all this month's copies disappeared to, surely in can't all be down to the 'cold snap', will I have to wait until there's a 'warm snap' before I can find a copy?

How many of you have actually got hold of a copy of the magazine this month? Nothing has arrived in the post, and we haven't had much snow in my part of the UK, so postal deliveries in these parts seem to be fairly normal. I suspect that my subscription might have come to an end, but no-one from MS has been in contact to tell me about it. Suffering severe withdrawal symptoms, I've spent the last few days trying to find a copy on sale somewhere, but with no luck at all so far, none of the retailers I've been to has even seen the January issue, and that includes my local Waitrose & Sainsbury's. So, where have all this month's copies disappeared to, surely in can't all be down to the 'cold snap', will I have to wait until there's a 'warm snap' before I can find a copy?

Not sure where exactly you are, but I had no problem getting my copy here in N. Surrey, although it did not turn up on the shelves around here until Dec 2 or 3. I had to force myself to buy it as it features a particularly unpleasant picture of the petulant toddler Vettel* on the cover. But maybe as it has the F1 season review in this edition, it sold out?

* sorry any Vettel fans, but I do have a bit of a problem with him - I have disliked several race drivers over the years, but have never until now had an almost unconquerable urge to give one a good slap.